


Baby Love

by kaeorin



Series: Loki's Lullabies [89]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Avenger Loki (Marvel), Avenger Reader (Marvel), Babysitting, Children, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Protective Avengers, Protective Loki (Marvel), Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24870805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kaeorin/pseuds/kaeorin
Summary: When you get unexpectedly saddled with babysitting your tiny niece, she brings a light into the Tower—and strange feelings into your heart.
Relationships: Loki (Marvel)/Reader
Series: Loki's Lullabies [89]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1678240
Comments: 15
Kudos: 287





	Baby Love

You knew perfectly well that the Tower was not the best place for a child, but you didn’t have much to say in the matter. Your sister had called you early one morning, sounding absolutely frantic, and rambled at you about some emergency for work halfway across the country and apparently she was the only one who could handle it and she had to get a flight like twenty minutes ago but she wasn’t about to take Ava with her and _please, god,_ please _, could you take her just for the weekend I swear I’ll do anything you want._

And so that was how you ended up standing at the base of the Tower with your niece whining sleepily against your shoulder and a giant crate of _baby stuff_ at your feet.

“It’s just for two days, right?” You’d asked your sister a little uneasily as she fussed over Ava in your arms. She’d brought a _lot_ of stuff.

“Barely, I promise. I’ll be back on Sunday. You should have everything she needs. There’s clothes and snacks and books and toys and everything. Oh, she wears pull-ups at night but during the day she’s out of diapers, just sometimes you’ll need to check in and remind her.” She cupped Ava’s baby cheeks and made a kissy-face at her, then immediately switched to grip your face in her hands. “You are _saving my life_ right now. I owe you forever. Anything.” There was an intensity in her face which spoke to her sincerity, but you pulled yourself free from her grasp with a laugh.

“It’s fine. Ava gets to spend the weekend learning all kinds of new tricks with her cool aunt and the Avengers.” You shot her a wicked grin, only mostly kidding. Your sister made a face but then checked her phone.

“Ugh, I have to go. Be careful, okay? I’ll call you when I land. Mama lovesloveslovesloves you and I’ll be back soon.” The last part she delivered, of course, to Ava, rubbing her nose against the baby’s and hugging the both of you tightly. 

And then she climbed back into her cab. You turned to watch it go, and encouraged Ava to wave bye-bye as it disappeared into traffic. You braced yourself for a fit. Kids got pretty serious separation anxiety, right? The idea of holding a screaming toddler in your arms in the middle of the street was kind of horrifying, but when the cab was gone, Ava just dropped her head onto your shoulder again.

Okay. Sleepiness trumped anxiety. Got it. You ducked down a little to try to get a hold of the crate on the ground. It was a struggle. You didn’t want to put her down and make her walk into the building because with her little toddler legs, it’d take forever and she was clearly still tired. Thankfully, one of the doormen saw your struggle and rushed over to help. He joined you in the elevator and carried the crate all the way into the living room on one of the common floors. 

Tony came into the room just as the doorman was slipping out again, and watched him go with a strange look on his face. After the elevator closed again, Tony finally turned to look at you, and you saw how his eyes widened when he saw Ava.

“ _Wow_.” He stepped a little closer to the two of you and ducked to study her face. “I know I lose track of time when I’m working, but I know I wasn’t down there long enough for this to be _yours_.”

“She’s my niece.” Should you keep your voice down? You didn’t want to wake her. “My sister had an emergency, so I’m babysitting this weekend. I was her only hope. You won’t even know she’s here, I swear.” Should you have asked for Tony’s permission first? It was his building, even if it was also your home. You felt her shift a little, lift her head, and then recoil when she saw how close Tony was to her face. He smiled brightly at her, but she turned away from him to hide her face in your neck.

“She’s shy,” he said, sounding surprised, but, thankfully, not hurt. “Wouldn’t have expected that!” He straightened, then, and looked at you. “I’m a sucker for girls who want nothing to do with me. Mi casa es su casa. Just let me know if you need anything, alright?”

“Thank you.” Maybe it wasn’t fair of you to be so surprised at how quickly he’d accepted her presence, but...you were. He grinned at you again and disappeared, likely heading back to the lab. You did your best to kick the crate into a place that was mostly out of the way, and took her back to your room so you could both get a little more sleep in.

Ava was absolutely adored by your teammates. You’d felt a little strange at first, bringing her into the kitchen for breakfast, but once you’d explained the whole situation and they’d watched her munch her way through a slice of toast and then half a banana, pretty much everyone was on board. And she _loved_ the attention. It seemed like her favorite trick was holding up three fingers to whoever was talking to her, which immediately caused celebration throughout the room as they made a fuss over her knowing how old she was. You tried not to laugh each time, and just kept waiting for her to realize that she hadn’t seen her mother in a while and then freak out. But she just beamed brightly when the others played with her and responded as best as she could when they spoke to her. Her speech was only sometimes garbled but, you discovered, you’d apparently spent enough time with her to know what she was saying.

You’d been a little worried about having to care for her by yourself all weekend, but you’d forgotten what your friends were like. Having her here seemed like a genuinely good thing for everyone. It was like having a reminder of why they worked—and fought—so hard. Steve’s eyes shone at you when he danced across the living room with her perched on his toes. Nat talked to her about her toys, treating her like she would any other member of the team. She sounded so serious as she sat there, working with Ava to make a plan of attack when they decided that the Bad Guys had hidden one of Ava’s teddies. Tony kept his distance, perhaps remembering how she’d reacted to him early that first morning, but any time he was nearby, you saw the way she watched him. After dinner that night, when he got up and walked behind her chair to go back to work, she threw her hand in the air at him, and he froze.

“I think she wants you to pick her up?” You took her plate over to the sink and tried not to smile at how shocked he looked.

He did as she asked, because how could he _not_ , and she reached out to touch his beard. “So I guess that hard-to-get thing was just an act then, huh, kid?” He made a face at her and she giggled in response. “I can’t blame you. Chicks love me.”

He did not seem eager to put her back down. Instead, he carried her around the kitchen, lifting her up to check the tops of the fridge and the cupboards. It made you kind of nervous, but you told yourself that he had great reflexes. You took care of the dishes and listened to the sweet sound of her laughter when he talked to her in a low voice. 

Later that night, she fell asleep on Bruce as he read her a story. It wasn’t entirely unexpected, given how early she’d woken up, but he’d looked absolutely thunderstruck when he realized what had happened. The sweetness of it—the way she she’d been curled up in the crook of his arm, her little face mushed against his chest—made you want to cry. Her father wasn’t around. He’d never been around. But she deserved something like this. She deserved to be surrounded by these big, strong men with these hearts of purest gold, men who could love and protect her the way everybody should. You’d stood up and gone to retrieve her, but he’d held out his free hand and shook his head. 

“It’s okay,” he said quietly. “She’s okay.”

When you settled into bed at the end of the day, after Bruce carried her to your room and helped to tuck her in, you just laid there for a while, looking at the ceiling. You weren’t sure you wanted kids of your own. There was an absolutely endless list of reasons not to. If you did have a kid, how much time would it have to spend with your sister while you went on missions? Or _could_ you go on missions? Would you have to make a choice between taking care of your child and taking care of the world? That didn’t seem fair.

A tiny scream pierced the darkness and you shot straight upright in bed. 

Ava was wailing and fighting against the covers that restrained her. “Mama! Where’s Mama? I want my mama!” She let you scoop her into your arms but didn’t stop screaming. It hurt your ears. You did your best to comfort her, rubbing gentle circles onto her back. You told her, over and over again, that her mama was safe, that she was fine, but she was working hard right now and couldn’t come see her. That only made her cry harder. What did you know about comforting a child? You settled her onto your hip and paced the floor in your room, hoping that she wasn’t too old to be comforted by the soothing bounce in your step. She did quiet, a little—at least enough that you no longer worried that she’d wake everyone in the Tower.

But her cries broke your heart. As many times as you tried to assure her that she was safe, that you were there, that her mama loved her so much, nothing helped. What could you do? You wanted to bribe her with toys, with snacks, with anything you could think of, but she just shook her head and cried. Guiltily, you considered calling your sister and letting Ava talk to her like that, but you didn’t want to disturb her. She was working hard, and when she’d Facetimed Ava on your phone after dinner, she’d looked absolutely exhausted.

Hesitantly, you left your room. You’d left Ava’s crate in the living room, and that’s where all of her books and most of her toys were. She clutched your shirt with her tiny hands and hot tears stung your skin. A little awkwardly, you crouched to try to dig through the contents of the crate. She had to have a book that you could use, right? Maybe a story about some woodland creature missing her parents? You didn’t notice the light from the lamp until a low voice sounded in the darkness.

“That’s a child.” 

You straightened immediately. It took another moment before your brain managed to place the voice, but when you finally realized who it was, you let out a deep breath. It was Loki. He and Thor had been the only ones on a mission for the past week or so. They must have gotten in earlier tonight. Ava fell silent, and then you felt her twisting in your arms to try to get a look at whoever was speaking.

He was sitting in a chair beside the lamp. There was a book in his lap, but all of his attention was on the two of you. You helped Ava turn and, when he saw her face, you couldn’t miss the way his eyes widened.

“You have a child?”

“No, I—ah...” You shifted a little, trying to find a more comfortable way to hold her. She still felt too warm, even if she’d more or less stopped crying. But it felt oddly important to you that Loki know she wasn’t _yours_. “She’s my sister’s. I’m just, you know...babysitting for the weekend.”

Ava’s eyes were wide as she gazed at Loki. Though still glassy with tears, they shone with interest in the newcomer.. You couldn’t blame her. Loki was beautiful, even now. He had his hair pulled back away from his face, which allowed the lamp light to cast shadows across his face. That only served to highlight his delicate bone structure. He looked tired. You wondered what was keeping him awake: memories of his last mission, or something older than that? Ava lifted her hand in a slight wave, and then immediately buried her face against your neck again. You didn’t miss the almost-smile that twitched across his lips. When you retrieved a couple of books to read to her in your room, he’d called out a farewell that sounded almost fond.

In the morning, Ava seemed to have forgotten all about the terror that had overtaken her the night before. She chirped her way through breakfast, still absolutely reveling in the team’s attention. When Thor joined the rest of you, he’d frozen in the doorway upon spotting her. He looked at her, then looked at you, and his eyes flashed. “She looks just like you! Congratulations, my lady! I had no idea”

Your face had burned, but before you could protest, Loki had pushed past his brother on his way to the coffee machine. “She’s her sister’s,” he said sharply. 

But Thor didn’t seem to care. He swooped in to kneel beside Ava’s chair so he could fuss over her. It was funny. As big as he was, and strong, and fierce in battle, he was so gentle and soft with the baby. When she laughed, he looked like he wanted to die of happiness. 

The only member of the team who kept any sort of distance between themselves and Ava was Loki. Even now, he leaned on the counter to drink his coffee instead of taking a seat at the table. You tried not to stare at him. Maybe he was bothered by her presence. He hadn’t seemed to mind last night, but maybe she was just too much before his coffee. It was hard to imagine Loki being particularly interested in children, anyway. That was fine. People didn’t need to love kids. This was his home, and she was kind of an intruder in it. You almost wanted to apologize to him, but you knew that if you dared do that in front of the others, you might risk making him look even worse to them. So you said nothing, and instead tried to send him all of your apologetic vibes telepathically. He didn’t look at you.

Steve suggested the Central Park Zoo, and Ava clapped her hands wildly and immediately started babbling about which animals were her favorite. And then what were you supposed to say: _No_? So you packed a backpack full of anything you thought she might possibly need at the zoo, then slathered sunscreen all over her chubby cheeks, and a group of you set out. Almost everybody went. Except for one. You were a little disappointed when Loki offered his quiet refusal, but you did your best to accept it gracefully.

Ava was in heaven. You knew that her mother brought her to the zoo fairly often, but she’d never gone with a group of superheroes. Each time she got tired of walking, there was always someone to sweep her up onto their shoulders. Thor held her up high in the air, holding her way above the crowd of people so that she could pretend to be flying. She darted from exhibit to exhibit, always under the careful eye of the Black Widow, who followed close behind to ward off any possible danger.

When you all got back to the Tower, you just wanted to drop onto the couch. Between the sun, the crowds, and Ava herself, you were completely drained. She was getting a little fussy—hungry, probably—and you managed to pull together some kind of kid-friendly dinner. Which she refused to eat. She was overtired, too, and wanted to be difficult. You choked down your growing frustration and offered her option after option, each of which she staunchly refused. Beneath her furrowed brows, her eyes looked watery, like tears were threatening, and you couldn’t blame her. You kind of wanted to cry, yourself. 

She only brightened when Clint suggested ordering a pizza, and even though a part of you was sure she only accepted that because someone other than you had suggested it, you were just relieved that she’d agreed. It was a tense thirty minutes before the pizza arrived, but she ate more than you’d ever thought to expect, and then fought a tiny little toddler-yawn.

That night, you woke out of a dead sleep to the sound of yet another tiny scream in the night. All of your previous frustration was forgotten as you pulled her up into your arms and went through the same routine as the night before. She just cried harder and harder, calling for her mama all the while. It was like your nerves were on fire. You promised her that her mama was coming to get her tomorrow, that she was just one more sleep away, and something about that did, at least, make her stop screaming, but she continued to weep. God, this poor baby. You dug through the stack of books you’d brought in last night, but she shook her head fiercely at each title. She mumbled something, and it was hard to figure out exactly what she was saying. Her frustration grew, which made it even harder to understand her, but at last you decoded the name of a lizard in one of her books. One of the books in the living room.

You shushed her gently as you made your way through the halls. When you found the book—not in her crate, but sticking halfway out from under one of the chairs—you collapsed onto the couch and settled her against you. You were pretty sure that you weren’t going to make it back to your room right now. She was still sniffling, but reached out to help you hold the book, and helped you turn the pages. 

You must have fallen asleep, because the next time you opened your eyes, Ava was gone. You sat up in a rush, heart pounding in your chest, and called her name. 

“Shh, I’ve got her.” It was Loki again, and he sounded close. You turned to look at him. He was sitting at the other end of the couch. Ava was now pressed against his side, gazing at his hands with rapt attention. He was conjuring little illusions in his hands, letting them float just above his palms and absolutely entrancing her. You blinked at them, still feeling kind of foggy and bleary, and he smiled. “She asked me to read to her. I saw that you were asleep, so I did.”

“I’m so sorry.” It felt like your eyelids were being weighed down. You rubbed your eyes just in case there was a physical cause. Of course there wasn’t.

“There’s no need to apologize.” He turned his attention back to his hands. You were a little caught up, yourself, in the way his illusions shifted into a familiar-looking lizard. Ava gasped and started to reach for it, only to pull her hand away at the last second like she knew better than to touch. How long had you been out? 

“Thank you...” 

He hummed something like an acceptance at you, and allowed his illusions to drift towards Ava. She leaned into him as the lizard crawled through the air. It got a little too close to her face, so she turned to hide against his side and squealed. It was so sweet. You felt your chest tighten even as he laughed. Even now, years after the Battle of New York, people still shied away from Loki. Even your teammates weren’t wild about having him here in the Tower, and forget about the average citizen on the street. But Ava didn’t know any of that, she only knew Loki for who he was now. And apparently she trusted him enough to ask him to read to her in the night. She trusted him to protect her from the lizard in the air. Earlier today, you’d thought that maybe he didn’t like kids, but his actions now spoke for themselves. He was laughing. He was murmuring soft things to her, gentle stories and poems to make her giggle. And he was beautiful. 

You tried hard to suppress a yawn, but only had marginal success. Loki looked over at you, and his eyes were softer than you’d ever seen them before. It stirred something in you. He smiled like he understood.

“You can sleep if you’d like,” he said. “I’ve got you—ah, _her_.” 

Your brain, sleep-deprived and exhausted as it was, spun his words into a much different alternate future. In it, he did not hold your niece, but his own child. Your child. Your heart was beating too quickly again, but for a much different reason now. You blinked fiercely, in hopes of clearing the thought off of your face before he could realize exactly what it meant. But his smile only grew. 

“Just a few more minutes? Okay? Ava?” You tried to make your voice sound firm, and to get the girl’s attention. She did look at you, but her wide, innocent eyes there in Loki’s grasp didn’t do much to make you feel very strong. “Just a few minutes. And then it’s bedtime.” She nodded solemnly, and you allowed your eyes to slip closed.

You dozed for a while there, lulled by Loki’s low voice as he spun fantastic tales for the baby in his arms. When she laughed, you heard how he laughed, too. 

This was a peace you’d never known.


End file.
